Private Jet St. John’s to Colombo

Few charter sectors cover as much of the globe in one sitting as the run from St. John’s to Colombo, a distance of some 6,693 nautical miles that carries passengers from Newfoundland’s rugged Atlantic coast to the shores of the Indian Ocean. St. John’s International Airport, perched above the harbour on Canada’s easternmost tip, is the departure point, and its position gives this route a natural head start on the transatlantic leg compared with most North American cities. An airliner-based VIP jet, such as a Boeing BBJ or Airbus ACJ, tends to be favoured for the sector given the cabin space and range margin required, with a technical stop typically built into the routing over Europe or the Middle East. On arrival at Bandaranaike International Airport, guests find themselves close to Colombo’s historic Fort district and the wide sweep of Galle Face Green, where locals gather at dusk to watch the sun drop into the Indian Ocean. The city has become an increasingly important South Asian business centre, with a growing financial district and a deep-water port that ranks among the busiest in the region. Sri Lanka’s celebrated hill country, with its tea plantations around Nuwara Eliya, lies a scenic few hours inland, while the southern coast offers surf breaks and colonial forts of its own. This is a route best suited to travellers with genuine cause to cross such distance in one journey, whether for trade delegations or long-planned holidays, and the extended cabin of a converted airliner turns what would otherwise be a gruelling multi-leg commercial itinerary into a single, considerably more civilised undertaking.